Will Polish Lightning “shoot” American Stingers?

polska-zbrojna.pl 3 weeks ago

Of all types of weapons produced in Poland, which our country has reported to the SAFE program, by far the biggest interest are portable anti-aircraft Lightning rocket kits. “If we had produced 10 times more, we would have found buyers for all,” commented the Deputy Minister of National Defence Cezary Tomczyk.

According to Regulations of the EU debt strategy SAFE, through which the Community countries can borrow, under very favourable financial conditions, for the acquisition of arms and military equipment, each of the countries joining the programme had to study to the European Commission not only the list of projects it wants to credit, but besides the inventory of the products of the local arms manufacture it offers for export. This message is of large importance to SAFE, as loans can only be purchased from goods manufactured in Europe or from European components and allows countries to choose the most sought after equipment or weapons.

Although the full Polish list of export products is classified, in an interview with the Polish-Army portal.pl Deputy Minister of National Defence Cezary Tomczyk revealed what military equipment placed on it enjoyed the top interest of another countries. They were without appeal. portable anti-aircraft rocket kits (PPZR) Lightning. The politician stressed that the scale of interest was very advanced and allowed to measure the request for Lightning. “If we produced 10 times more, we would find buyers for all,” commented Tomczyk.

RECLAMA

Bolts, by which the operator can combat various types of aerial assault measures, ranging from drones, maneuvering rockets, aircraft and helicopters, which decision at a maximum of 6.5 km, are considered by experts to be 1 of the most modern solutions in their class. As the conclusions of the war in Ukraine show, against the background of competition, they are distinguished by an advanced head, which detects even targets with a very low heat signature (i.e. the level of infrared radiation emitted by the facility, enabling its detection and recognition by means of thermal cameras).

The evidence of their quality and possibilities is the ever-increasing interest in them among another armies. Recently, she decided to buy this weapon Sweden, and before it was done by the United States, Norway, Georgia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Latvia and Belgium.

A immense interest in Lightning from the States that joined the SAFE programme, or want to benefit from the fact that another countries have done so and join them to negociate a better price for themselves, allows us to believe that a real script is in which Polish missiles will dethrone American Stingers in a fewer years' time as Europe's most popular short-range mobile anti-aircraft weapons (MANPADS – Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems). The key here is their acquisition by the largest countries in the Old Continent, and in fresh weeks France has expressed its will and Germany.

Krzysztof Wilewski

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